


Heart stealing blue eyes

by VulpesKorsak



Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Bliss (Far Cry), Drugs, Eventual Romance, M/M, Obsession, badassery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-06 11:49:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15194150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VulpesKorsak/pseuds/VulpesKorsak
Summary: Rook becomes obsessed with John and his gorgeous eyes. He doesn't want to hurt him. He doesn't want to hurt or kill at all. But how can he not if everything has gone to shit?





	1. A bit obsessive

**Author's Note:**

> Have not ever written anything more longer than one chapter, so that's new grounds for me. Also chapters will be rather short.

Yeshua Rook has always had a bit of a problem. One of a mental kind. He is not insane, dangerous or unstable or anything of that kind as some people, like Staci Pratt, tend to think if he mentions that, but he tends to be, as he himself calls it, a bit obsessive. It has always been something absolutely miniscule that would get him. Some tiny little detail. Like freckles on his classmate’s face.

_ “There is so many of them! Like an entire little galaxy on her face… And what if it is a galaxy? With billions and billions of lives beginning and ending right on the tip of her nose.” _

He was thinking about her freckles whenever his mind wasn’t occupied with anything else. Surprisingly, it never got boring. And it lasted for almost three years until she and her mother moved to another state for reasons unknown. The thing was he didn’t even talk to her all that much. Just a little chit-chat every once in a while, but they used to sit at the same desk for some time. She was actually rather boring, he found out after talking to her for about an hour once on a school trip. Nerdy kind of boring. But not comic-book nerdy like Yeshua himself. More like actual-science nerdy. She kept talking about her mom’s research of some species of beetles. All the while he kept thinking about her freckles.

_ “Does she have these beetles in her freckle-galaxy? She talks about them so much... Maybe they are one of the most dominant species there and rule the world... Maybe they are at war with the wasp civilization... That would be super awesome! All the special armor they would wear. WIth six holes for all of their legs… or arms… I wonder if they know that they are in the freckle-galaxy... What if we are also a part of somebody's freckle-galaxy...” _

Then there was his teacher’s old cowboy hat he had worn a couple times for Halloween costume parties. It was clearly old but well-cared for. So Yeshua decided it must have been his great-great grandfather’s hat. For almost a year he was coming up with possible adventures of his teacher’s ancestors that led to the hat ending up in his possession. A dying old cowboy giving the hat to his son. The son taking revenge on his father's killers. The hat ending up in the possession of a bandit and then returning to its rightful owners. Or sometimes he came up with complicated love lines that led to the hat belonging to the descendants of the original owner's rival... Yes, he spent more time dreaming of these hat stories than studying.

There were a few more things throughout his life that filled his head at every opportunity, sometimes till it would start hurting. The wings tattooed on the back of a buff guy he used to see at a gym every Saturday. When he was in the army for a year, it was a huge scar across his commander’s nose.

Oh, and, of course, his grandmother’s apple pie. He was usually able to get rid of his obsessions a few weeks, sometimes months after he stopped seeing their source. But that pie have been permanently glued to the inside of his head since the age of seven. Though these thoughts were comparatively rare and sparse, they made him crave anything apple-related. The closer to the pie, the better.

Yeshua has never seen them as life ruining, more like annoying and out of place on many occasions. He did his best at not acting upon them even when he really wanted to and mostly succeeded in that. He did not ask about the cowboy hat. He did not trace the tattoo with his very fingertips like he dreamed . He did, however, ask about the scar and even got to hear a cool story from the commander in response. But he knew that it was luck she was feeling rather sentimental that evening.

But eventually his obsession does fuck him up. He realizes that standing in front of a TV in the middle of a war zone that is Hope County.

Yeshua is staring at John Seed on the screen and his leg with an arrow sticking out of it does not hurt, and his soaked clothes do not feel heavy and cold, and the only thought in his head is:

_ “Are those gorgeous eyes actually this blue in real life?” _

He wants to see them up close. He wants to look this handsome and dangerous man right in the eyes and see for himself if his heart could beat even faster than it does right now.

So when Yeshua is almost drowned and the first thing he sees clearly after getting out of the water are these blue eyes he can’t help but grin. Apparently John thinks his grin is supposed to be mocking, so he gets shoved underwater again. This time it is even rougher and lasts longer and for a second he thinks that his soul is beginning to leave his body. But then he hears footsteps and voices. And he can finally breathe again. His mind is too clouded by the lack of oxygen and, supposedly, happiness to get a grasp of what is going on immediately.

The tranquilizer they used on him must have been very strong. Even after the near-death experience Yeshua feels kind of sleepy and strangely joyful. Soon he is on the shore and the infamous Joseph Seed is there too.

He is telling John off for mocking the Cleansing. John seems upset and his beautiful blue eyes look unsure and afraid. Yeshua does not like that. He wants them to be bright and full of life. But as soon as John looks back at him and their gazes meet he is grinning like a Cheshire cat again. Nothing can’t diminish their prettiness. John gives him a weird look but does not say anything. He just turns to Joseph quietly. Yeshua probably looks like a madman: soaked in water, coughing out even more water... and yet smiling. And he doesn’t even think of stopping. Because how could he not if they are so damn blue? As blue as the sky the day he first came to Hope County, as blue-

"As much as it upsets me to admit, I can tell that your smile is not caused by the Cleansing." Joseph tells him, his sunglasses obscuring his eyes. "But we want to help you. Please, tell me, my child, what has brought you so much happiness that you smile at those you call your enemies?"

For a moment something in the back of Yeshua’s mind is telling him to be cautious. Not to give away any information that could be vital later on. But this voice gets overpowered by his intoxicating joy and the literally intoxicating drugs he is sure he’s full of. His mind is getting cloudier by the second.

"How could I not? They are even bluer in real life than I thought!" He says quietly in a shaking voice and then laughs surprisingly loud, startling himself. "Isn’t it amazing?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and commenting!  
> Your support means a lot to me :3


	2. Peaches, I am screwed.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "John fucking Seed. He’s a sadistic cultist who probably wants me dead… but damn! He’s hot!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry for the chapters being so short. But I decided to devide the story into smaller parts. Maybe later they would be longer.  
> I hope you have fun reading!

Yeshua is woken up by a loud rumbling sound that he can’t identify as anything familiar. A sense of alarm begins to rise in his chest and his eyes are open next second, searching for danger. To his greatest relief he sees Peaches looking down at him. Now he can clearly identify the sound as her purring. Like a giant house cat she really is. She nudges him with her heavy head and Yeshua pets her, scratches her behind the ears and over her eyebrows. He tries to stretch out his limbs but it turns out that he is unable to do so, his arms and legs bump into something. He has to sit up slowly and turn to give his body some space. 

He is in some abandoned hard-to-reach hiding spot. It was hard to find and even harder to get Peaches inside but it was worth it. He was able to get a long and safe rest without worrying about getting killed in his sleep.

It is rather dark here, only one light bulb illuminates the room they are in. He is lying on top of a sleeping bag left here by the person who built this place. He vaguely remembers waking up at night to crawl out of it because it was too hot. Once again Yeshua wonders what happened to its original owner. He likes to imagine all the adventures these preppers are having as he is running around trying to survive… safe and cultless adventures… far-far away from here… alive and well… probably not though.

He rubs his face and lets out a long satisfied yawn. Peaches yawns back at him. Before she can yawn a second time he puts a hand on her mouth can gently squeezes it shut. The cat sniffs his hand in confusion, her nose wet and cold, but does not yawn.

“When did I get brave enough to do something like that?” He asks aloud. 

This night he finally got a long uninterrupted sleep. It has been three days since he escaped after John’s cleansing ceremony. The car crashed, he got saved by the locals and helped his saviors in return. He got a couple hours of sleep in the church but after that he was pretty much restless. 

He ventured north into Jacob’s territory and then went round there helping out some of the people he met. Then, while wandering around he somehow got to Faith’s territory, aka the Henbane River region, as it was called back when he was still a proper deputy… which was not that long ago at all, now that he thinks about it. But it feels like forever.

There he was “gifted” with Peaches. He sent Boomer away in relief. The dog knows his way to Fall’s End. He is great and all but he is also but a small doggo on a battlefield. Eventually he would have been hit by a bullet or an explosion and Yeshua does not want this little creature to suffer any more than it already has. That and he makes too much noise that can attract unwanted attention. 

Peaches, on the other hand, is silent, deadly and vicious in a fight. A perfect match for her new owner... Yeshua tries his best not to think about what this situation is doing to him. Has already done to him.

Rook is doing everything he can to control himself, to stay away from fighting all together, sneaking up on his enemies and knocking them unconscious whenever possible.   
When he has no choice but to fight it’s like he becomes a completely different person. If he sees a hostage, that will surely be shot if he hesitates or chooses a slow and non-lethal approach. He is, after all, a hunter. A killer. His weapons of choice have become a trusty bow, a powerful handgun and a sharp hunting knife. He shoots from the shadows and rooftops. Flushes out enemies and makes them search for him, leading them into a trap, sending out Peaches to get them. Sick satisfaction fills him more and more with each arrow that goes through a Peggie’s head. He grins in amusement when then run around in desperate attempts to find him as he takes them out one by one. And after the fight is over, he feels shame. He became a deputy to stop criminals, catch them, arrest them, not to hunt them, for fuck’s sake!

When he is away from a battlefield, he hates fighting and shooting. And killing. It is ruining him. But he doesn’t have a choice, does he? He tried reasoning with some Peggies but most wouldn’t let him close enough to be able to hear him out. How can he not attack when he sees an innocent person being drowned or convoyed for a brainwash? He knows that violence only causes more violence in the long run. But he has yet to find another way to stop an act of violence as it is happening.   
Yesterday he could not avoid several direct confrontations once again.

He looks down at his left forearm. Seven new tiny cuts have been made by him on its back yesterday evening before sleep. Seven more lives he took freeing an outpost and rescuing captives. Yeshua sighs. His arm is littered with those tiny scars and it hurts like crazy when e cuts into his own flesh. And he wonders how soon he will have to move to the upper part of his arm. He should probably stop doing this. But he has not come up with a replacement for the act yet. It makes him feel grounded. Reminds him of his sins… He is not religious himself, but being in Hope County certainly influenced his vocabulary.

He also realizes that he slept surprisingly great. For the first time since he has found himself in the middle of this war zone he did not have any nightmares, he did not hear screaming or shooting, did not see bodies and his own hands cover in blood.

Instead his dreams were of John Seed.

“I guess most would consider that a nightmare.” He chuckles.

Yeshua finally got to meet him up close… very-very close. And now he knows that his eyes look even more beautiful in person. He in general is a very beautiful person. He spent the last three days replaying that meeting in his head over and over again. At least parts of it he could remember. Now he knows that he was on something that is called “the Bliss”. His face goes red as he recalls telling Joseph about his little obsession. He just hopes he was vague enough for him to think it was just some blissed out rumbling. But he remembers the understanding look Joseph gave him before turning away and leaving as he kept grinning and giggling like an idiot.

“Gosh! I really hope that’s what this Bliss does to everyone. Or else I am just one hell of a moron… and John now probably thinks that I’m insane... I really should not care what he thinks about me... Pull yourself together, Deputy Yeshua Rook! You are not falling in love with a fucking cultist! Not on my watch!” He rants and turns to pet Peaches for a second and his mind is already wandering off. “But maybe we could be insane together-”

"Fuuuuuuuck!" He groans out loudly startling Peaches who jerks away from him meowing in surprise. He strokes her head and she comes to rest by his side again.

He doesn’t remember this night's dream particularly well but he knows it involved the stream he was cleansed in. But he was not drowning. He could breathe without effort even underwater. And he felt so calm and relaxed staring upwards into those blue-blue eyes. Then his memories of the dream get blurry. The last thing he remembers is John saying something to him, smiling, but the background of their interaction was different. Instead of dark night sky behind John’s frame it was grass illuminated by the rising sun.

With rising dread Yeshua realizes that he was leaning over fucking John Seed, his hands around his stupid cultist head, looking into his goddamn gorgeous blue eyes and he was about to-

"Uuuuuuugh! I am sooo screwed, Peaches!" Yeshua moans covering his face with his hands and huffing. "My brain has chosen the worst person to... let's say, be obsessed with... for now. John fucking Seed. He’s a sadistic cultist who probably, definitely, wants me dead… but damn! He’s hot! And those eyes of his..."

Peaches purrs again and for a moment Yeshua gets a feeling like she can relate to his moral dilemma.

"What? Do you have a problem with a man as well? What is it? He is all handsome and hot but there is also one big NO?" He asks the cat. Surprisingly, Peaches meows in return just at the right moment.

"Nooooo waaaay! He’s a bison?! Peaches! Come on, girl! Just imagine how huge… That won’t work, my dear, that won't work. You know, now that whole “sadistic cultist” thing doesn’t sound that bad." Yeshua laughs, thinking that he really needs someone human to talk to, or else he will really go insane talking to a cat, and finally gets up from the floor.

"We’re gonna go back north… but not like Jacob-north… up to the lake today." He tells Peaches picking up his rucksack. "And see what we can do to help out that Drubman lady."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and commenting!  
> Your support means a lot to me :3


	3. A walk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Rook wishes he could just roleplay away Joseph’s mental problems instead of all this crap. Roll a d20 to stop the Collapse."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I've updated. I'm sorry :P  
> I upped the raiting of the story because at some point there's gotta be some smut. I don't know where, don't know when. But it's gonna happen.  
> I also made a few minor changes to the first two chapter. Changed the phrasing of a couple things and added a bit of none-essential stuff.  
> 

After leaving their overnight shelter Deputy Rook and his pet cougar walk in silence for a while. Yeshua wishes he could put a saddle on Peaches. But he realizes he’d probably break her back. He’s pretty heavy due to his height and muscular physique. Would he give it all up for a ride on a puma’s back?

_“Hell yes!”_

They have found a couple of cars on their way. Unfortunately, it is very hard to drive a car through the woods. They try to avoid the roads and Peggies. A buggy would be much more suitable for that. However, the last buggy Yeshua used got stolen during the couple-minute period of searching a small cave for ammo. This might sound ridiculous but, as Yeshua found out, in Hope County ammo is sometimes easier to come across than water.

The sun is blazing but they are walking through a forest and giant pines protect them from most of the heat. The Deputy has a bow and a .44 magnum on him as well as a small rucksack that contains ammo, medicine, a bit of food and bait, which is extremely useful for avoiding wild animals. For as much is he loves hunting, they tend to be more aggressive than ever, most likely disturbed by the cult activity. He had a run-in with a couple monsterous white wolves on Jacob’s territory that were apparently drugged by the same “Bliss” that was used on him by John’s people, but fortunately he stopped seeing them after coming to the Henbane River region.

The Bliss problem, as it turned out, has originated from here. He learned that from a local after helping him fight off a completely insane cultist, apparently called “an Angel”. Yeshua kept hitting him with a baseball bat until it broke and even after that the guy kept trying to strangle him with his arms broken and skull cracked open. Only a bullet in the head stopped him. Blood and gore has never been a problem for him, his dad taught him how to gut and cook a deer when he was ten and that, he thinks, made him almost immune to stuff like that. Being in the army cemented this “skill”, but looking at that bloodied yet unstoppable Angel made him feel sick. He saw another one on the side of the road but avoided going anywhere near the poor bastard.

As far as Rook understands the situation, Faith Seed is responsible for making this Bliss drug out of some sort of white flowers. Its overdose renders people almost completely braindead and subservient to the cult. It is also used to make these weird wolves into the killing machines he saw.

It feels so unreal and almost supernatural and is hard to process all at once, so at the moment Yeshua is not allowing these thoughts to occupy his brain or it gets too overloaded and his depression begins showing vital signs. Instead he finds a much more pleasant subject matter.

You guessed it: John Seed.

Rook is away from his territory and hasn’t seen any of his commercials (if you can call them that) around for a while. Rook knows that his pretty words of his are all fake. The power of Yes. That’s a very catchy slogan, if you don’t think about it. If you don’t think about what is hidden behind the words. Blood, ink and pain. And yet Rook finds himself missing that smooth voice and that endearing intonation. Even without looking at him Yeshua can admit that the man has his charm. And with looking at him… well, that charm is multiplied by a hundred.

Rook tried to make sense of how the eyes of a man as cruel and sadistic as him can be so pure and beautiful. They say that the eyes are the mirror of the soul. And if that’s even remotely true, perhaps, this situation of his is not as hopeless as he thinks. John might be a bastard but even bastards have their good sides. People in general tend to have a lot of different unexpected sides to them. So judging by only one of them is not fair. That’s what Rook has been learning throughout his entire life.

That makes him remember his school days. Looking back, all the problems and inner conflicts he used to have are nothing compared to what he is going through right now. But there was time when what makes him laugh now worried him to death.

One example was his confrontation with a school bully when he was 13. The guy had a reputation of the biggest jerk in middle school. Not a lot of people talked to him and all the rumors young Yeshua heard about him made him absolutely terrifying to walk by every day at school. But one day the bully smacked a lunch tray out of the hands of the girl Yeshua had a crush on. She got orange juice all over her new fancy skirt and ran away crying. So Yeshua gathered all his courage, stopped his hands from shaking and got in a fight for the first time in his life. Neither of them got to win it as they had been dragged away from each other by a teacher. As they were on detention together, he learned that the girl moked the bully’s single dad, who worked as a driver of a garbage truck. It also turned out that the guy had wanted to play D&D for a while but had no friends to do so.

A game was organized the same week, Yeshua couldn’t leave a person in need of a Dungeon Master. And the bully fitted surprisingly well into their established group.

Soon enough “the bully” turned into “my best bro Lance”. And the girl he had a crush on into their mortal enemy. She was a spoilt rich girl and almost comically fitted into many of the movie stereotypes. But even she matured into a much better person a few years later. Hell, just two years ago Rook ended up being a best man at her and Lance’s wedding.

Rook wishes he could just roleplay away Joseph’s mental problems instead of all this crap. Roll a d20 to stop the Collapse.

Later in high school he had a philosophy teacher who had never said a bad word about any of his students and treated them all extremely well. However, he seemed to hate protestantism with every fiber in his body. And managed to find a way to condemn and almost curse the religion and its followers even during lessons that had nothing to do with religion. And Rook, who does not give a single fuck about the subject matter, was barely able to contain his anger, whenever one of those accusatory speeches began. But when they were over he realized that he couldn’t stay mad at the teacher for too long. He was kind and friendly, told amazing stories about his youth, laughed at his own repetitive but somewhat charming jokes, never bothered anyone personally and was very forgiving when it came to their grades. That made Yeshua feel very conflicted and led to many sleepless nights filled with thoughts of duality of everything in his life. Compared to, once again, Joseph and his cult that guy's religious problem was not a problem at all. Now Rook can barely remember what upset his so much about him. Only the good things come to mind. Like that one time he made cookies for his class when they did especially great at the final test.

 _“Can Joseph bake cookies?”_ Rook thinks for a moment. And then that moment turns into an hour.

By the time he approaches “Drubman Marina” he is dying to know whether or not Joseph is good at baking, and if John would like the apple pie by his grandma’s recipe… and damn it, now he craves that pie.

_“With cinnamon… and maybe even some vanilla ice cream on top. Would be soooo good right now...”_

It’s been a while since he’s eaten. It would suck to be found out because of his growling stomach. To his delight, he has an apple-flavoured cereal bar, which he shoves into his mouth a second after discovery.

The Deputy sees the blinking green light of one of the alarm towers of the outpost. The woman, whom he heard on the radio, sounds very pissed. Apparently she has been locked in one of the buildings of her own property surrounded by a bunch of Peggies.

As always, Rook starts with the hardest part: sneaks up on the guy on the rooftop and knocks him out, making sure he doesn’t fall off the roof. He destroys all of the alarms with arrow, making sure that none of the Peggies are near to take notice.

He gets back to the ground and almost runs into a guy exiting the building he was on. The guy doesn’t have time to shout before getting his ass handed to him by Rook. Then the fun part begins.

Rook drags the unconscious body closer to edge of the forest but makes sure it is easily seen. And in less than a minute another Peggie shouts out that a man is down. Rook baits him by rattling the bushes and in a minute almost the entire camp is running towards the part of the forest where they think he’s hiding. Rook begins his game.

He baits the Peggies from the bushes, smoothly escaping at the very last moment and separating them from one another. He climbs trees, hides behind rocks and in the bushes. When he is sure no one will spot him, he strikes and knocks the Peggies out one by one. The last remaining cultist tries to make a run for the camp as soon as she realizes what happened but Rook appears from behind the tree, making the girl smash into his chest and jerk back in fear. He sees pure terror on her face as his tall menacing figure is looming over her. He knocks her out quickly and returns to the camp.

There are five enemies left on guard who grouped together and are discussing what to do next, but he can’t see a way to get to any of them without breaking his cover. He sighs and sends Peaches to walk around them and take down the armored one.

Shouts notify Yeshua that the Peggie is on the ground and the others are grabbing their weapons. He leans out of his cover and put arrows into the heads of two of them. The remaining two manage to grab their weapons and shoot at Rook. Rook hides back, barely avoiding a bullet and hears incoming steps of one of them. Then he hears a scream of the other. It seems that Peaches got to him too. Rook peaks from behind the corner to see that the last Peggie who was running towards him turned around and is aiming at Peaches. Nobody touches his kitty cat, Rook thinks, before he is out in the open, his arms around the Peggie in a chokehold.

As soon as he is down, the door of the house he was hiding behind slams open. A woman in her sixties is out to greet him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you a lot for reading, commenting and kudoing!  
> Your support makes me very happy!


	4. Get to the chopper!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How ‘bout it, honey?” Adelaide asks. “You help me and Tulip and I will show up wherever and whenever you need us.”  
> “Will be done.” Yeshua nods once again. He is really bad at say “no” to people. Even though he is urging to go hunting right now, he will do what he was asked to do first.  
> “Thank you, honey. Now, if you excuse me, I need to go help Xander find a place for his yoga practice.”

“Adelaide Drubman. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” The woman introduces herself. Rook is sure he knows someone with the same surname but he can’t quite put a finger on who exactly. He had spent a bit more than a month in Hope County Sheriff Office before everything went to shit and he has never been that good with names anyway. Another month or so, judging by the usual way his memory works, and he would have been all fine and dandy with most of the locals, since there is not a lot of them in the first place, but he wasn’t given that another month.

“Yes. I’m Hurk’s mom...” Adelaide tells him, clearly noticing confusion of his face. He has always been bad at hiding his internal struggles from other people.

_ “So it’s Hurk Drubman, huh? Hopefully, from now on I’ll finally remember that.”  _

He knows Hurk. Met him a couple times while arresting Sharky Boshaw. Funny fella. Kind of reminds Rook of Lance, if he’s being honest.

“... and no I don’t want to know what he’s been up to. It’s called plausible deniability.” She continues.

“Yeshua Rook.” He introduces himself. “I am a new junior deputy.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of you, honey. A new handsome young deputy in town. How could I miss such news!” She smiles at him. Yeshua lets out an awkward chuckle. He wouldn’t consider himself particularly handsome, though he knows he's not too unpleasant to look at.

“Thank you.” He answers.

“Oh, you’re not the one who is supposed to be thankful. I appreciate all your help getting my marina back a lot.” She tells him and then plauses for a moment before continuing. “But, honey, I’ve got a problem.”

“What can I do for you, ma’am?” Rook doesn’t have any plans for what to do next anyway, so he doesn’t mind someone giving him a request.

“Those Peggie shitbirds stole my Tulip!” Drubman complains.

_ “Shitbirds? Wow. That’s a new one.” _

“She’s the nimblest goddamn helicopter this side of Montana and I’ll be goddamned if those fucktrumpets are gonna take her from me.”

_ “Fucktrumpets, huh? I should start writing those down.” _

“I won that bird in my divorce  **fair and square** .” She says proudly.

“So, you want me to get it back for you?” It doesn’t take a genius to see where this is going. 

“Yeah. The only problem is, the walking erectile dysfunction who took her painted her that awful shade of Peggie mayonnaise, so the only way you will be able to find her is to ID the pilot.”

“I see.” Rook nods. “How do I do that?”

“A few choppers that might be my Tulip has been spotted nearby today. I’ll give you the coordinates that, hopefully, will help you find the bastard. I'll update them if any of them move. Should be easy to spot him.” She rubs her chin. “The only other birds around the area are flown by women.”

“Oh. That definitely helps.” Rook nods. “Alright. Anything else I need to know?”

“Well, we all used to fly together on weekends but that friendship went tits up after those thundercunts ( _"Thundercunts! Hell yeah!"_ ) joined Eden’s Gate.” She looks pissed just talking about it. “So I got no problem if you “accidentally” shoot them in their disloyal faces.” She winks.

Rook thinks she might have forgotten that he is supposed to be the law here. But he guesses it doesn’t really matter anymore. His deputy duties. Killing people. Morals. Shit is going down and he has to act quickly. He can’t spare every single Peggie he comes across anyway, so what would a few more cuts on his hand matter? Should he even keep making them? It’s kinda painful.

He decides that he should. That would at least remind him of his humanity. He hopes. To be honest, those cuts also look like trophy marks. Rook can’t deny that all this Peggie hunting reminds him of his father and of going hunting with him. Maybe he can take a day off for some real hunting. Hope County is full of game and no one would really give a fuck if he took down a bear or two. He already had to deal with the local wildlife quite a lot. But mercilessly gunning down a frenzied wolverines or wolves did not bring him any satisfaction whatsoever. He has always loved hunting with a bow or a sniper rifle (usually the bow, he doesn’t like disturbing the silence of nature too much). Trailing his target. Watching, learning from its behavior. Killing with one perfect shot. Going far into the woods, camping, swimming and fishing in between hunting rounds.

“How ‘bout it, honey?” Adelaide asks. “You help me and Tulip and I will show up wherever and whenever you need us.”

“Will be done.” Yeshua nods once again. He is really bad at saying “no” to people. Even though he is urging to go hunting right now, he will do what he was asked to do first.

“Thank you, honey. Now, if you excuse me, I need to go help Xander find a place for his yoga practice.”

“Xander?”

“My boyfriend.” She winks. “His ass looks amazing in yoga pants.”

Yeshua whistles in amusement. “I should be so lucky.”

“Oh, so you are a fellow connoisseur of nice ass.” She seems pleasantly surprised.

Yeshua turns around to leave and winks over his shoulder at her and she giggles. Perhaps, they could get along rather well if given more time, he thinks. She sounds badass and naughty with a hint of sweetness. Just the type of women Rook has always especially enjoyed hunging out with.

He walks around watching people settle down at the liberated outpost. He collects a med pack and some more arrows for himself. Finds an open bag of cat food and tries to feed it to Peaches, who does not look a bit interested. Still he commands her to wait for him there, as there is no way he’s flying a helicopter with a cougar in it. With a sigh Rook gets up on his feet and walks towards the local vendor.

 

* * *

 

Rook finds the first “potentially the one” helicopter in about half an hour. But there is no pilot in sight. He approaches it to check it for any signs of it being recently repainted but a bullet flies just by his arm, scratching it lightly. The pilot turns out to be a drunken woman aiming another shot at him. He thought Eden’s Gate forbids alcohol. He hides behind the helicopter and pulls out his magnum, ready for a fight. But instead of waiting for him to lean out, she decides to check on him herself. He hears the woman’s approaching footsteps and quietly circles around the helicopter to ambush her from behind. Thankfully, she’s too drunk to notice or to struggle too much in his grip. 

_ “I guess, that’s the main reason why. Can’t defend Eden’s Gate property if you are drunk.” _

He looks at the woman on the ground and for a moment seriously contemplates whether or not he should follow Adelaide’s request and just shoot her. He shrugs and puts his gun back in its holster. She is not dangerous now, so he sees no reason to kill her.

_ “I’m a deputy. Not a hitman.”  _ He reminds himself.  _ “De-pu-ty.” _

He pulls out his radio and rather quickly finds a resistance member nearby. He asks them to pick up a helicopter and a captive. No reason to leave a perfectly good chopper for other Peggies to take.

Rook looks at his map to find another spot where the stolen bird can be and head there.

On his way there he comes face to face with another angel, noticing the bastard only when he almost trips over him in the tall grass. The angel takes a few second to notice him, so Rook has a chance to step back and draw out his gun once more. This time he knows to fire a single steady shot that blows the brains out of the bastard’s skull. He looks around to make sure nobody heard the shot. To his disappointment, three more angels rise from the bushes nearby. Yeshua sighs and realizes he doesn’t want to see any more brains out of their place today, so he books it for the forest hearing their troubled breaths and footsteps not too far behind himself.

Oh, he shouldn’t have listened to his sister. She was the one to advise him to apply for the job here. Apparently an old classmate of hers has some family members here. He met the girl once.

“Nothing too serious ever happens there. Bars fights and drunk shooting, an occasional property damage, but that’s if you’re lucky. My aunt is the dispatcher of the Hope County Sheriff Office. Says it’s peacefully boring most of the time.” She told him. “If you want to see some beautiful scenery and quirky rednecks, Hope County is exactly what you need.”

And while she was not incorrect about recreational effects of being away from a big city, she was definitely wrong about it being peaceful. Rook realized it soon after his arrival. The peggies had been causing a lot of trouble way before his attempt at arresting Joseph happened. Even before Rook’s arrival. But he didn’t pay too much attention to them, since that was still much better than the stress he experienced working as a cop in Oakland. A lot farther away from his family, his sister and her children, than he had ever been (minus his time in the army), but, as Lance told him, they needed a break from having to see each others mugs to start missing each other properly.

And now all hell broke loose. And it all might be Rook’s fault. He could have not cuffed Joseph, could he? But even if he refused, the marshal probably would have done that for him. There is no fault of his that this loonatic cult leader chose that interaction of theirs to be the beginning of the supposed Collapse. Right?

He manages to lose the angels after crossing a small river, fortunately, they don’t seem to be smart enough to swim. His clothes are soaking wet now but the weather is hot enough for everything to dry on him by the time he finally reaches the second spot. He takes out his binocular and scans the area.

_ “Aha! There he is. The walking erectile dysfunction.” _

He sees both the male pilot and the helicopter. He also sees two other Peggies around. Which is not good. He will have to be extra sneaky, to make sure he doesn’t get Tulip up into the air. His usual tactic of baiting won’t work here. And he won’t be able to shoot the fucker without damaging Adelaide’s precious divorce prise. However, there is very little cover for his hiding spot to the small Peggie group. Very little. He’ll be seen as soon as he’ll start moving any closer.

So he needs to come up with a good plan… What if he shoots him from here? But to do so, he I’ll have to expose himself a lot, and there is no way he won’t be seen. And if the pilot tries to run for his ride, it would be difficult to get him in one shot. And if he gets too close to Tulip, Rook will be afraid of damaging her. He can also try to back off, go down the road and cross it there, and then sneak around them from the other side. That is his best shot. But it would also take a lot of time. And he’s afraid that the pilot is going to take off while he does that. Then again, he can try to make a run for it. But that’s too risky-

_ “Fuck!” _

It seems like the guy is getting into Tulip!

_ “Damn it! She is about to ascend!”  _

Rook acts before he can think. He grabs his gun and jumps out of the bushes making a run for it. A Peggie shouts to the other two, as he expected. He sends a series of shots in the direction of the two on the ground without aiming. One of them scream in pain grabbing his chest, but the other takes a shot at Rook. A sudden burst of pain pierces Rook’s side. And then another one his thigh.

Tulip gets off the ground. 

Rook shoots back at the second Peggie and gets him in the shoulder. In the last attempt to stop her, Rook grabs onto its landing skid…

 

What was he trying to accomplish? Hulk it and hold a helicopter to the ground?

Yeshua doesn’t really know. All he knows that he is now several meters above the ground and that his mouth can’t hold in an undignified almost cartoonish yelp.

He won’t be able to stay like that for much longer especially with all the blood dripping from his chest and, you know, pain. So he doesn’t even try to think or plan anything this time. He does not look down. He pulls himself up into the cabin and somewhat restores his dignity, hearing a similar surprised yelp from the pilot. Thank all potentially existing gods, he hasn’t been neglecting his PE lately. All the dealing with cult business and a huge burst of adrenaline certainly helped.

For the next few seconds he and the pilot stare at each other wordlessly.

“Do you have a parachute?” Rook asks panting.

The pilot nods and Rook notices that that is indeed the case.

“Good.” Rook says and punches the guy out of the cabin, taking his place as quickly as possible. The helicopter shakes and dances in the air for a few seconds, as Rook tries to steady it. He hears the Peggies under him yelling and a parachute being opened.

It looks to him like a mission accomplished, so he lets out a victorious laugh and turns Tulip towards Adelaide’s marina. He radios Adelaide, saying he is on his way. Fields an forests fly under him. And then his vision starts to get blurry. He suddenly remembers that he has, in fact, been shot twice just then. And it hurts like a bitch. And he is bleeding… well, like a bitch.

He has to land. Now. Trees. Trees. A moose. At last Rook notices a perfect flower field. So he does his best to relatively carefully lower the helicopter onto it. As soon as the rotor blades stop moving he falls out of the cockpit. 

Thankfully, there is plenty more of those pretty white flowers around. 

They smell funny. And they are much taller than Rook expected. They frame the sky for him in a very unusual manner.

Blurriness of Rook’s vision becomes very colourful very quickly as he stretches himself on the bed of flowers (feeling like a queen and the most badass action hero at the same time).

“I wish for Adelaide not to be mad at me for bleeding all over her pilot seat.” He says to himself. He feels like maybe it would come true if said out loud. Or was it the other way around? He doesn’t remember. He doesn’t care. He yawns. And closes his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, kudoing and commenting!  
> All of that means a lot to me!


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